Class IV. COMMON DOLPHIN. 91 



Upon the swelling waves the dolphins shew 

 Their bending backs, then swiftly darting go, 

 And in a thousand wreaths their bodies throw. 



TION, 



The natural shape of the dolphin is almost Descrii^ 

 strait, the back being very slightly incurvated, 

 and the body slender ; the nose is long, narrow, 

 and pointed, not much unlike the beak of some 

 birds, for which reason the French call it L' oye 

 de mer. It has in the upper jaw from twenty-four 

 to thirty teeth on each side, and in the lower 

 from twenty to twenty-six on each side, making, 

 in the whole, from eighty-eight to one hundred 

 and twelve.* These teeth are rather above an 

 inch long, conic at their upper end, sharp 

 pointed, f bending a little in. They are placed 

 at small distances from each other, so that 

 when the mouth is shut, the teeth of both 

 jaws lock into one another. The spout-hole is 

 placed in the middle of the head. The back 

 fin is high, triangular, and placed rather nearer 

 to the tail than to the head ; the pectoral fins 

 situated low ; the tail is semilunar ; the skin is 



* The above numbers are given on the authority of the reve- 

 rend Hugh Davies, who, in the year 1793, had an opportunity of 

 examining near a dozen of the species which were cast ashore 

 near Caernarvon. Ed. 



t Plate 3. fig. 5. 



